SB Nation User Blog: was385

An affordable improvement to the offensive woes

was385 — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:27:46 -0000

While I’m elated to see Nate McLouth in an Atlanta uniform (a .600 OPS from your everyday centerfielder will do that for you), there’s still work to be done. Before I get into this, I’d just like to point out that this isn’t a frustrated bitching post (I’ll save that for the day after a tough loss) and I don’t want any sarcastic responses about me applying for Wren’s job. This is an innocent idea that will hopefully spark some good discussion.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I can get into the real meat and potatoes of this post. As I said, while the McLouth trade was a huge step in the right direction (and I applaud Wren for making such a big move early on), it leaves the front office in a tough position. The organization’s frustration with Jeff Francoeur’s lack of production seems to finally be catching up with his, well…. lack of production. On top of that, it looks as though Greg Norton may have run his course with the Braves, leaving Bobby Cox without a consistent power source off the bench (as much as you could call Norton a power source). The problem is of course that the team seems to be out of money now that they’re paying McLouth’s $2 million salary. That financial inflexibility combined with an economy that will put a premium on cheap fixes this trading season means that a creative solution will be necessary to further strengthen the team.

With all that said, I come to my ingenious solution (that I blatantly ripped off from MLBTR) -- Shelley Duncan. He’s not the sexy acquisition (I’m lookin’ at you Matt Holliday), but he fits what the Braves need and maybe most importantly, is affordable in terms of salary and what it would take to acquire him. He can play both corner outfield spots, bring quite a bit of power off the bench, and back up first if when Martin Prado is filling in for Chipper at third. And on top of everything, he’s right-handed (hasn’t that become a rare thing in Atlanta?). Duncan is currently making International League pitchers wet themselves for the Yankees’ triple-A affiliate to the tune of a .310/.379/.670 line with 20 homers. Obviously a 29-year old AAAA slugger isn’t going to be that successful in the majors, but his small amount of major league experience definitely warrants more of a look that the Yankees really can’t provide. In ’07 he posted an .883 OPS in 74 at-bats with a .255 BABIP and while he struggled mightily last season, his .202 BABIP more than likely had a significant hand in that.

No one should be expecting too much with Duncan. He’ll give you loads of power, a good amount of strikeouts (25.2% in 133 career MLB at-bats), and a mediocre on-base skills (Atlanta fans shouldn’t be too picky at this point). What makes this even more appealing is that we actually match up fairly well with the Yankees as trading partners. Atlanta has a glut of pitching and the Yankees bullpen is truly painful to watch (4.85 ERA). The Braves have surplus arms like Boone Logan, James Parr, and Luis Valdez seemingly trapped in Gwinnett, that may interest the Yankees for a player of little to no value to them. Would this move make our opponents shake in awe of our offense? No, I don’t think that’ll happen regardless of what Wren does. What this will do is affordably give the Braves a shot at solving some of their offensive woes and some right-handed power to change up what is a lefty-heavy lineup. Thoughts?

Bobby Cox continues to show us how senile he is

was385 — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:17:13 -0000

This guy has had a great career as a manager, but Bobby, it's over. As of now, he is one of the worst managers in the game and continually removes any doubt of that. This game has been an absolute embrarassment as a Braves fan.

First, Jo-Jo Reyes is not going to be an effective major league starter. He's shown numerous times that he doesn't have the stuff, control, or command to consistently be effective as even a back-end of the rotation starter. He may have a future out of the pen, but we've got Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen making AAA batters look foolish. CALL ONE OF THEM UP!!!

Second, the bullpen. Listen, I love what Bobby has done mixing and matching Soriano and Gonzalez, but that doesn't make up for having two pitchers in that pen that have absolutely no business being on a major league roster. Jeff Bennett just doesn't have the stuff that he had last season (probably because he's been visiting mcdonalds a bit too much lately) and Buddy Carlyle has never had the stuff to be a major league pitcher. He's like a real poor man's Kyle Davies in terms of stuff, who somehow was able to get lucky last season and have some success. It's not last season though. He's historically been bad, is bad, and will continue to be bad.

And of course it's not exactly all that difficult to fix these problems. Here you go Bobby, I'll give you a bit of help. Call Hanson up to replace Jo-Jo and kick those other two bums to the curb for Medlen and you can fill in the third (Morton?). I just needed to rant.

Julio Teheran on the left.

was385 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:10:48 -0000

Julio Teheran on the left.

Jason Heyward during baserunning practice at spring training.

was385 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:08:12 -0000

Jason Heyward during baserunning practice at spring training.

Jeff Locke (ATL) Q&A

was385 — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:41:38 -0000

I thought some of you might be interested in a Q&A I just did with Jeff Locke, who was just rated by John as the Braves' eleventh best prospect.

http://mvn.com/mlb-braves/2008/02/19/jeff-locke-qa/

Questions for Jeff Locke

was385 — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:47:35 -0000

I'm doing an interview with Braves prospect Jeff Locke for Chop-n-Change, my Braves blog over at MVN. I wanted to know if there are any questions you'd like him to answer and I'll take the best couple from the responses and ask him.

John ranked him as the eleventh best Braves prospect with a B- grade this year.

Fantasy Question

was385 — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:15:12 -0000

I just made a trade in my fantasy keep league. I traded Delmon Young and Jeremy Jeffress for Jay Bruce and Jarrod Parker. I wanted to see some of your opinions on the deal.

I really liked Young and Jeffress but especially after the latter;s off-field problems last year, this seemed like a no-brainer to me.

Shocking

was385 — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:15:23 -0000

I figured for sure the Red Sox were not going to keep Will Middlebrooks from going to A&M, but he signed with the Sox for a little under one million.

McGeary Signs

was385 — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:27:15 -0000

McGeary signed for $1.8 million but will be allowed to attend classes at Stanford and play baseball in the summer until he graduates. Washington will also be picking up the cost of his tuition. I like what the Nats front office is doing. They made a big splash during this draft and added some big talent to a depleted farm system.

Phil Rizzuto Died

was385 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:31:55 -0000

just saw it on CNN